Negatives of Daniel Carcillo’s big mouth may outweigh the positives he brings to the Blackhawks

It wasn’t very long after the Chicago Blackhawks officially introduced Daniel Carcillo (along with Andrew Brunette) that Carcillo started showing the “screw you” attitude he’s so well known for.

He did not delay attacking rival Vancouver, and not just the team but specific players, naming Max Lapierre to be on the top of his list. Carcillo has a long history of trash-talking that goes along with his dirty play.

He’s no stranger to suspensions and pay cuts. In fact, Carcillo is suspended for the first two regular season games because of an in-between periods incident with officials last playoffs.

“The way I play I’m bound to miss a few games every year,” Carcillo said. “It comes with the territory. I don’t like being suspended or the pay cuts, but the way I play it’s tough to stay out of the principal’s office.”

But all of this toughness and dirty attitude is exactly what GM Stan Bowman wanted to bring to the ‘Hawks this season. Jamal Meyers and Steve Montador, along with Carcillo, complement the ‘Hawks’ desire to add toughness to the team.

But some criticize the move to bring in Carcillo, who they claim has too big of a mouth and not enough skill to counter it; they compare Carcillo to Carlos Zambrano, and part of that is true. Carcillo has never been a very productive forward. He’s an infamous tweeter, though he no longer has an account, and he only amassed a total of six points last season in 57 games (but being moved onto the fourth line will have that affect on your stats).

With all that to his name, it puts fans in a tough spot deciding whether signing Carcillo is worth all the extra ‘baggage’ he brings with him. NHL fans love tough players, but having a big mouth and using it a lot without backing it up is a very fast way to make enemies, even if they’re your fans.

The direction Bowman wants to go with these new players isn’t entirely new, but the trash talking is. The ‘Hawks had tough guys before in Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien, but those guys complimented their grittiness with offensive skills, and they rarely ever called players out directly in interviews.

There is no doubt Carcillo can play the gritty part, but offensive production is an uncertainty. Carcillo has gotten better when it comes to staying out of the penalty box and he did have a somewhat decent offensive season in 2009-10, so there’s reason to be somewhat optimistic.

Carcillo insists that, given a fresh start, he can prove he’s worth the risk.

“Everybody always (says) that I can fight, that I’m tough and I can hit, but I pride myself on my game, as well,” Carcillo said. “I never want to be that fourth-line guy and that’s kind of what I turned into last year. That’s what they wanted me to be and I had a really, really hard time with it.”

Carcillo’s exact spot on the roster isn’t known yet, but I assume it’ll mostly be decided by the way he plays on the ice and if he can live up to his own words. Either way, it’s a risk for the ‘Hawks that could end up hurting the team or prove to be an important factor in winning this season.

Tyler Juranovich is an Indiana native, a Ball State student, and a senior writer for MSF, where he's been writing about Chicago sports since 2009. His favorite teams are the Chicago Blackhawks and Bears. He's also a lover of reading, music, and movies. Follow him on Twitter (@tylerjuranovich) or email him at tyler.juranovich@gmail.com